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Lab-Grown Steak

Posted by Hemos on from the will-jamie-eat-it dept.

swight1701 writes "New Scientist has an article about several researches who are trying to perfect growing seafood, chicken and beef in the lab without the animal. NASA started the program by wanting to provide burgers for Mars astronauts, and researchers hope to look to McDonalds, et al as funding sources in the future. The biggest problems being nutrient delivery to thick meat and exercise for the sedentary slabs. Processed meats seem to be something that may be a reality soon, while your animal friendly filet mignon may take a little while."

18 of 634 comments (clear)

  1. What about quality by parnasus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just as farm-raised meat has a different taste quality than game meat, I wonder what the flavor of lab meat would be?

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    --If you code for the exceptions, the rules fall into place
    1. Re:What about quality by evalhalla · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Probably just different.

      I guess that they're going either to make some almost tasteless meat that you're going to eat with lots of sausage, or extra spiced meat that doesn't need anything before it can be eaten, maybe not even cooking.

      I suppose they could give also a "fake game meat" taste, and I also suppose that most people won't care, and that's the sad thing

  2. Gag. by eviltypeguy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is just sick. I don't think I could even think about eating this. Anyone else feel the same way?

    Who know what the long term effects of eating genetically engineered food are? It seems like more and more corporations are putting profit margins before people...

  3. Is it cosher? Is it lenten? by WetCat · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is this food being compliant to be cosher?
    Can it be lenten and be eaten in Christian fasting?

  4. The real question is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    would this type of meat be eaten by ethical vegetarians, ie. those that don't eat meat because animals need to be killed for it. I personaly eat meat myself but I think it would be great if we could reduce the suffering of animals by perfecting this process.

  5. Let's hope this means the end of veal by quakeslut · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I'm vegan, but even if you aren't, you'll be hard pressed to find people that support the truly unethical treatment of cows for the production of veal.

    My guess is that because of their problems with muscle stimulation and "bulk growth" that the resulting meat will be more like veal than traditional "steaks."

    At any rate, you should still GO VEGAN or at least vegetarian. Even NASA can't argue (from the article):

    "People are vegetarians and vegans on Earth and they do quite well," comments Thomas Dreschel, director of NASA's Fundamental Biology Outreach Programme. "It is more efficient to grow plants and feed on them. If astronauts really need essential amino acids, they can eat a pill."

    1. Re:Let's hope this means the end of veal by quakeslut · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Of course Douglas McFarland (at Souh Dakota State University in Brookings) would disagree. And I'm sure that his all of his research project funding has nothing to do with it.

      Listen: of course there will always be two sides to the story (and thank you for reminding me), but as a man of science (I assume) you can't argue that eating meat is more efficient than eating the plants yourself. And this inefficient use of resources on a global scale does indeed have an effect.

      There are so many great meat substitutes that are healthy for you and for the animals. Remember that your "burger" had a life and (in general) that life was rather horrible: jam-packed feed lots, pumped with antibiotics and hormones, force fed foods, disgusting sanitary conditions, etc.

      You vote with your money (in our capitalist society) so at the very least vote for humane treatment of animals. If you really want meat, buy from local farms (if possible) or buy free-range meat.

      If slaughterhouses had glass walls many of you would join me for a veggie-burger.

  6. hmm... I wonder if it will be kosher... by nacks1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seriously, I wonder if my jewish friends will be able to partake of the grown meat. I mean, it does not have cloven hooves or chew cud when it was grown in a vat.

    Any Rabbi's out there want to give this a shot?

  7. Reminds me of the scene in "The Fly" by binaryDigit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... where Jeff Goldblum sends the steak through the transporter. He has Geena Davis take a taste of the "molecularly re-engineered" steak vs the "real" steak. She has an immediate negative reaction and her complaint is that is tastes like something that is trying to be a steak (not her exact words, but the gist of the whole scene). This is how I imagine this meat being.

    This is also similar to some of those vegetarian "meats" available. One hamburger product I tried reminded me a lot of that scene. It tasted more like a burger than any other veggie burger I tried, but was perhaps a bit too close without being perfect. The end result was that it was more "disturbing" to eat because though it sorta tasted like meat, it had a weird "there is something not right here" kind of taste to it.

    Of course they'll realize (too late of course) that given the right combinations of other foods/chemicals that the meat will continue to grow while in the gut. This will at first be disturbing as burger gluttons everywhere start exploding, but then people will realize that you only have to eat one burger, and given a good protein shake, you can "replenish" it any time you want :)

    1. Re:Reminds me of the scene in "The Fly" by otis+wildflower · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The best beef comes from the happiest animals, the ones who grew up roaming the lands and eating grass. The kind of beef grown in Alberta (Canada), Argentina and Brazil.

      This also tends to be a bit tougher than feedlot beef, but more healthy due to its lower fat (particularly saturated) content. The antibiotic issue is a non-starter for me, since at least some of the evidence out there shows that antibiotics are entirely consumed in the animals and not passed into the meat. Still, free-range animals don't require antibiotics since their living conditions are healthier and their lifestyles make them more robust (and free-range breeds tend to be hardier).

      Personally, I wouldn't mind paying extra for free-range beef, if it was a more relevant part of my diet. I just like to thumb my nose at the earnest, self-righteous womens-studies-grad-student ninnies trying to suck the life out of life. Where are the red-blooded, non-naive, honest, Teddy Roosevelt progressives?

  8. Is it still cannibalism... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    if it's grown from a cell culture?

    A sick question, but it's the kind of thing we'll need to think about, because somebody will want to do that and we should begin debating whether we'll allow it.

  9. Why? by oliverthered · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, I eat quarn, make from mushrooms, no animals in sight.

    Is there really an ethical market for cow free beef?

    (BTW I'm not a veg or a vegan, my family has a long history of heart desease, steak isn't in my diet)

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    1. Re:Why? by Speed+Racer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's exactly my point. They make these recommendations based on logical leaps. There is not a single clinical study that demonstrates a link between increased red meat consumption and increased heart disease. In fact, the common risk factors such as high LDL and triglycerides, don't appear to be increased by red meat consumption where the HDL or so-called "good cholesterol" is increased when eating red meat. In a cruel twist of fate, a low fat diet often substitutes carbohydrates for the fat to replace the lost flavor. These excess carbohydrates increase triglyceride levels, thus increasing heart disease risk.

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  10. Re:Wouldn't it be easier to... by nmg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I hope you mean cow embryos...

  11. I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    You suppose that vegetarians/vegans will have a problem with eating this, since it doesn't seem that it was ever 'alive'?

  12. Expensive pant load! by paiute · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My first reaction is: why? Why not just be a vegetarian? Hell, millions of Indians are, and they seem to be doing okay, building supercomputers and hand-held computing devices like gangbusters. We need less saturated fat, not an uberexpensive supply of it.

    My second reaction is that astronauts should be eating no meat, anyway. Those of you who remember how the diaper smell went from interestingly aromatic to puke-inducing as soon as the baby started to eat meat will want your space station comrades to stick with the rice and lentils and a side of naan.

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  13. Better For the Environment. by BFaucet · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Growing meat like this could potentially save a lot of water, energy, space and lives. I doubt it would be difficult to modify to modify the meat to make it more nutritious. The lack of fat might be a big issue as much of the taste of meat comes from the fat in it.

    This could also mean disease free meat. One day people might be able to order a steak uber-rare and not worry about vomiting, death, or even worse... explosive diarrhea.

    I myself am a vegetarian due to my having a conscience and a brain that just won't forget those videos I saw when I was younger. Well, that and I feel that us humans aren't really all that great of a species.... I mean, what species is stupid enough to pass on the genes we hate. We make glasses, fix deformities, cure baldness, c-section babies... while that's great for the individuals, and I'm not knocking any of them (I myself am not a very geneticly desirable specimen.) It passes on the genes that make those techniques required and thereby making the species weaker as a whole... Gah, getting way off topic again.

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    -Derick
  14. You are what you eat.... er.... by ThulsaDoom · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "One researcher recalls a student, a vegan, who asked if she could just biopsy herself, grow up a steak and eat it. If you want to eat truly victimless meat, perhaps it is time to put yourself on the menu"